1994-2002 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
I could never understand why more Americans didn't recognize this and spent a little time in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary, Fredericton, St John, or Halifax etc. picking up a steal-of-a-deal organized in a few phone calls and faxes; even online.
That way, American buyers in Canada could break the car in on the way home.
At your rate of exchange, I paid US$22K for a demo (4,200 mi.) '99 9-3 spring edition (Pilots and special rims) here in Calgary. That included auto, sunroof, leather, and a SAAB baseball cap, but no upgrades on the sound, the trip computer or HVAC system. Front seats only are heated.
Taxes? Americans don't pay Canadian sales or GST taxes; a few exemption forms any dealer can round up through the finance department. It's all covered in the Free Trade Agreement. Registration? $45 maybe. Insurance? Do they really care where you got this car? Will they refuse to take your premium?
Aliens in Canada? Well, Montreal maybe, but like all Moose-antlered, checked wool-shirted, beer-drinking aliens, they recognize the value of a US buck, eh?
No sense of commercial adventure maybe. Wanting to buy local to get some goodwill going with the dealer maybe. But give away your hard-earned sawbucks when you can save a bundle? Gimme a break!
Canada's not all that big an adventure. Believe me. I live here. Perhaps if you picked up the CanSaab in winter and you didn't have snow tires you're maybe in for an advenure but otherwise, no big adventure. Just a great chance to break in your car on the highway, esp if you picked it up in New Brunswick or Nova Scotia and took some of those great Maine short cuts to get back home with your Canadian provincial license plates.
I dunno. Maybe there's some wonky law in the US I don't know about, but it seems to me all those trade restrictive laws washed out with the Free Trade deal.
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